Foreign journalists awarded in Astana
Ahead of the awarding ceremony Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov stressed that some 300 articles dedicated to Astana's 20th anniversary had been published in foreign mass media. "The majority of those are exclusive articles by journalists who came to Kazakhstan to get to know the city better," he added.
Editorial staff of Uzbekistan's National News Agency (UzA) which actively covered Kazakh-Uzbek relations in 2017-2018 were announced the winners in the CIS and Baltic region.
British journalist Gilly Pickup was named the winner in the European region. Her article One Steppe Beyond published in Country and Townhouse centers on her journey to Kazakhstan. 
As for American region, Sasha Lipovtsev of the U.S. picked up the award for the best article for his Seven Wonders of Kazakhstan: Why Fashion Tourism Is Booming in Central Asia published in Forbes.
Jordanian journalist Ayman Abdelhafez al-Zaban dedicated a series of articles to Kazakhstan's economic development, foreign policy and the 20th anniversary of Astana. He was declared as the winner of the Middle East and African region. 
Inderveer Singh from India and his article Astana: the capital has its own charms and pleasures which appeared in Business Central Asia magazine surpassed other articles from Asia, Australia and Oceania.
"There were a lot of great articles published by journalists from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Poland, the UK and many other countries. We can't award every article but we do appreciate their work, it is valuable to us. I am sure the contest will thrive in the future," Minister Andrakhmanov said.
Kazakhstan through the Eyes of Foreign Media is an annual contest held for the fifth time in a row in Kazakhstan. The panel consists of Minister of Foreign Affairs Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Deputy Foreign Minister Roman Vassilenko and President of the Editors-in-Chief Club Yerlan Bekkhozhin.
